Oooo, are we mocking Laurell K. Hamilton? I sent all the ones I have/had to Deena when I realized I could no longer stand to read one through all the way anymore--except "Obsidian Butterfly," and that's more for Edward than anything else.

I really liked LKH when she started out -- lots of nitpicks, but Anita was lots of fun.

Now I still read her, but mainly so I can come here and snark companionably with y'all about the latest book.

There hasn't been a new Anita Blake in a bit, has there? She's doing the Mary/Merry something series?

merry gentry.

There's a new Anita book (number 12) coming out in October, Incubus Dreams. I'll read it. I want to know what happens next, but yeah, the series has really gone down hill. The last was really just annoyed me. Too political I think and just too much of the same old crap. I really don't like that Anita seems to be alienating herself from all her human friends/co-workers. It's uncool.

I bought the first Anita Blake book to see what all the fuss was about, and didn't get through it. I liked her, but I got bored. And then the thing with the rats really squicked me.

The only Anne Rice I enjoyed was The Witching Hour, and even that could have used some trimming. The family history was interesting, the New Orleans descriptions were great, and I got invested in Rowan and Michael getting together. But that series went downhill right away, too, with Lasher and Taltos, the third one (I think?), which I never finished.

I hated the Witching Hour. It made me swear to never read her again. I hated it so much that halfway through, I got a red pen and started editing it. I was going to go back and dothe first half, and then send it to her, but I couldn't bring myself to go through that again.

Hee! That would have been priceless. Yeah, she's definitely the self-indulgent type. Loves to just go on and on. So I just skimmed the boring/unnecessary parts to track the progress of the family, which I did enjoy.

Jilli, I enjoyed Romeky's first two Vampire books. They seemed to wacky to be taken seriously, but still not pure camp. I loved the melodramatic over-the-topness of the villian. And I loved the hero's mentor.

Of course, I read it years ago, and I still thought Anne Rice was a great writer. I've learned my lesson, but I still remember I, Vampire fondly.

Chiming in with the big agreement about LH's decline. What was fluffy, porny fun with a snarky heroine became "Oh dear Christ, another bestiality threesome with angst and handcuffs? Puh-leeze."